Zayre, American Style

These photos were taken in 1971. Only two years removed from the sixties, that era in some ways seemed eons ago. If the early 70’s appeared slightly less turbulent on the surface, they really weren’t, what with the Kent State shootings, a ramp-up in the Vietnam War, and the first manifestations of the inflation problem afoot. America continued to undergo sweeping social changes as well,

The Zayre Family Album, 1971

With 10-plus years of successful growth under their belts, Zayre began to look at opportunities to bring some new retail formats under its corporate umbrella. Pictured above in a set of individual photos is the expanded “Zayre empire” as of late 1971. These additional banners each shared key attributes with the main Zayre operation, in product offering (fashions, fabrics, toys, general

A Look Inside Zayre, 1968

A handful of scenes from a typical Zayre store, circa 1968. The first shows a couple of well-dressed folks shopping the health and beauty aids department. Just seeing the Listerine display on the end cap brings back the taste of the stuff. (Not necessarily bad in my opinion, just unique. And very strong.) Listerine was one of the heaviest advertised products of the late 60's/early 70's, with a

Zayre in Miami

Here are some nice circa-1970 photos featuring the Zayre and Grand Union stores that were located the corner of Dixie Highway (U.S. 1) and 136th Street in Pinecrest (Miami-Dade County), Florida. These photos and much of the background information that follows comes to us through the courtesy of Stuart Spector of Spector and Sons, a well-known general contracting firm that has built many

Zayre's Fabulous Department Stores

After a slow, careful period of initial growth through the end of the 1950’s, Zayre Corp., as it was now known, began to expand rapidly. Only six Zayre stores were in operation in 1959, the approximate year that Zayre’s volume reached that of the Bell Shops/Nugents stores. By 1962, there were 27 Zayres open, with ten to twenty new ones added annually for many years afterward. That same year

A Very Good Start For Zayre

Although the first Zayre department store didn’t open until 1956, the chain’s beginnings date back to 1919, with the formation of The New England Trading Company, an underwear and hosiery wholesaler. Founded in the Boston area by brothers Max and Morris Feldberg, the company began as a supplier to full-line department stores and specialty shops. Ten years later, the brothers launched their first

You Couldn't Do Better Than Zayre

The main things that stand out in my memories of Zayre were the stores’ signs, with their absolutely gigantic lettering. We shopped a lot at Zayre (the Des Plaines Market Place location, at the corner of Elmhurst and Golf Roads) through my early childhood, but pretty much switched over to Kmart for our discount store fix from about age 8 on.Ironically, I still possess an item bought for me there,

Where Were You In '62? - At Ralphs!

A bit more on Ralphs before a brief pause in the story. This photo is from 1962, and appears once again by courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. This photo was commissioned by Foster and Kleiser, the famous billboard company, for an unknown promotional purpose. The sign is typical of Ralphs (much more so than the one shown in the last post) in the 1958-62 period.Note the multi-colored “

Ralphs Granada Hills, 1959

I dig this store the most! It sends me. This is none other than the Granada Hills Ralphs, which opened in November 1959 at 17020 Chatsworth Street, at the Balboa Boulevard intersection. This store is a stunning example of the individuality and high-concept architecture that Ralphs applied to its new supermarkets on a regular basis. A Ralphs manager summed up their philosophy for Progressive

Fifties Ralphs

A couple of Ralphs stores from the beginning and the end of the 1950’s, a decade that saw the chain greatly expand its reach within greater Los Angeles. Architecturally, these aren’t as easy to categorize as the Streamline Moderne stores that preceded them or the Modernist stores that followed, but they were nonetheless certainly pleasing enough.The first store was located in the Westdale